The Wayzata Way

For the girls of Wayzata High School cross country, every season begins in the dark. On an August night last fall in Plymouth, Minnesota, with only moonlight to guide them, the girls walk silently through the woods. One injured girl is carried by her teammates in a wheelbarrow. They reach a clearing, lie down and listen to their head coach, Dave Emmans. He tells them to be present, whether they're stargazing or racing at the state meet.

While most teams focus on goals, the Wayzata (pronounced "Wy-ZEH-tah") girls focus on enjoying the journey. Emmans, who is in his 23rd year of coaching, and Addy Hallen, his assistant for the past five years (and whom he coached back in the '90s), know that for their 130 runners, mindset is as important as training.

Their approach is paying off: In 2012, the Wayzata girls won their first Minnesota Class AA state title and placed seventh in their first appearance at Nike Cross Nationals. In 2013, they went undefeated en route to winning the 2013 NXN championship.

A Psychological Edge

The team's preparation is inspired in part by family therapy. Emmans has been pursuing a master's degree in psychology, in addition to coaching and teaching PE and health at Wayzata. So while veteran runners log up to 50 miles a week with workouts like hill running and cut-down intervals, they also spend a lot of time on mental training.

"When a goal takes you away from the present moment and creates anxiety, it becomes an albatross around your neck," Emmans says. "We're always telling them not to overthink racing. We want them to see value in every workout, run and interaction with the team." Strategies like focusing on calm, controlled breathing help teach athletes to release anxiety and enjoy the here and now.

Emmans and Hallen think plenty about their team's goals, but they want their athletes to trust them with the end result--which was initially a challenge. Anna French, a junior last year who was Minnesota's top-ranked runner, had hung her hopes on winning state. She finished 14th behind two of her teammates. But by NXN, she had refocused on enjoying being with teammates who valued her regardless of performance, and she finished eighth in the nation.

"When I didn't win the state meet, I started questioning everything--all those miles and all the training," French says. "It made me think, 'What do I have left? Why do I run?' I knew I had my team. If I didn't have that, I don't know how I would've gotten out of bed to run every day." With a new focus, she started to enjoy running again. "At Nike I decided, 'Why not have fun with it and enjoy being here with my team?' "

French bought into her coaches' message.

"We try to teach them not to rest everything on a single race," Hallen says.

Why Are We Doing This?

Team camps, watermelon relays, bake-offs and homecoming parades are a part of Wayzata's season, but Emmans and Hallen ensure that every activity serves a larger purpose. Emmans learned from family therapy that successful groups foster a sense of belonging, safety and significance, so now all the team's nonrunning activities are designed around at least one of those objectives.

Emmans has also learned that healthy families (and teams) change their rules to fit the group. For Wayzata's large team, finding the right structure and set of expectations is a continual work in progress. He noted full team meetings weren't having the desired effect, so Emmans created mini-teams of 15–40 athletes grouped by skill level and experience. The mini-teams do weekly check-ins. They talk about bad races before they happen, so they learn not to be afraid of them.

Seniors are encouraged to listen to and include younger girls; younger girls are challenged to run with and learn from more experienced teammates. Expectations and accountability are clear: Athletes, not parents, talk with coaches when conflict arises.

In Good Spirits

Emmans says that he changed to make his teams successful, even if it took him a long time to evolve. And he's still learning. While his current team is certainly talented, Emmans says that previous teams were as well--but weren't getting the results. "I didn't know what I was doing wrong," he says.

Then five years ago, one workout changed everything. Emmans was tired of coming away from hard workouts feeling like no one was having fun. So he put his team on the track and told them to run a mile easy enough to be able to talk. The girls ran an 8:30 in good spirits. They continued, and the next mile they ran 8:15, still happily. Then an 8:00, and next 7:50. They were quieting down, but they were still together and feeling strong.

Emmans knew he was onto something. They never ran that fast on the roads. They finished the workout with a 7:30 mile, and everyone felt great. Four of the girls in that group would go on to be part of the 2013 NXN championship team.

Today the Wayzata girls work smarter, not harder. Just as with races, everything doesn't hinge on how a workout goes, so the team is able to stay relaxed when they have a hard effort coming up. The girls learn to step back and stay calm, even in the middle of a workout.

Emmans never stops looking for ways to improve. Last fall at NXN in Portland, Oregon, he spoke to as many coaches as he could to ask about their team systems and dynamics.

"The real test is coming," Emmans says. "We know we can't duplicate what we've done before. We were national champions last year, but there is always so much more we can do."

The Wayzata girls celebrate their 2013 NXN win in Portland, Ore.Image by

Changing Into a Winner

What works and what doesn't with Wayzata girls cross country.

OUT: PASTA PARTIESEmmans and Hallen found that these extra pre-race events were a stressor for their already busy student-athletes, and that they didn't do much to help them build meaningful connections with each other. Kids would talk to their friends but not branch out to include new or younger athletes.

IN: COLOR TEAMSIn this annual Wayzata tradition, girls are assigned to a color team for fun activities and friendly competitions, like bake-offs and watermelon relays. The teams (which are different than their training groups) put freshmen together with seniors, create a sense of belonging, and foster friendships where they might not otherwise occur.

OUT: PRESSURE TO PARTICIPATEEmmans quit badgering talented but reluctant athletes to join the team. Instead, he gives them the freedom to walk away from the sport if they don't love it.

IN: TEAM EFFORTIn years past, Emmans believed that running was all about training and individualism, and he avoided talking about teamwork and the mental side of the sport. His new philosophy is that athletes will be more successful if they help each other and are aware of their mental state even before they step to the line.

OUT: PEP TALKS AT THE STARTING LINENow, most of the talking happens well before a race, so athletes are prepared and calm.

IN: PROCESS GOALS, NOT OUTCOME GOALSRather than focusing on winning state, the Wayzata coaches tell runners that they are proud of them for what they are doing today. "You can't control the end," Emmans says. "Some of you will have your heart broken at the end, but it won't be that bad, because you had such an incredible process getting there."

OUT: DESTRUCTIVE INTRASQUAD ALLIANCESEvery team has alliances and they can tear a team apart. Once athletes are aware of these alliances, they can be challenged to move beyond them. Emmans says it's the key to building a team.